Social housing with solar panels. Protected cityscape with modern comforts

In Amsterdam's Bos en Lommer neighborhood, Hemubo is making 170 social housing units and five commercial premises more sustainable on behalf of Stadgenoot housing association. The project named Bosleeuw Blok 3 is the last block in Bosleeuw Midden to be tackled.

During the work, residents will move out of their homes. They can choose to live temporarily in a change home or move to another home in or outside the complex. "Staying in their homes during the renovation was not an option," says David Rinaldi, project manager at general contractor Hemubo. "We are completely emptying the house down to the shell. Partition walls, doors, interior and exterior window frames will also be removed. The building is protected cityscape, so we're not allowed to do just anything with it. The porch houses were built early last century from a certain architecture." Specifically, the plastic window frames on the street side are replaced with wooden window frames of the same size and in keeping with the original design. At the rear, the window frames are replaced with low-maintenance plastic window frames.

Within the apartments, a box-in-box system was chosen, with floating floors, pre-walls equipped with sound and thermal insulation, and fireproof and acoustic ceilings. "When the apartments are redelivered, they are completely new. They will have a completely new installation, be connected to district heating and completely gas-free. There will be new kitchens in them, as well as new bathrooms and toilets," Rinaldi said.

Good communication

To start such a project, seventy percent of residents must agree to the work. In this project, that percentage was more than met. Also due to good communication to the residents, Rinaldi believes. "In cooperation with the housing association, we stay in constant contact with the residents. We take them through the entire process step by step and they are well guided. The renovation of a porch with eight homes takes a total of fourteen weeks. During that period, the residents stay in a change house around the corner."

Sustainable and circular

Sustainability and circularity play a big role in this project. However, the quality of the houses was so poor that not much could be reused. Still, a good look was taken at what could be done. Rinaldi: "All central heating boilers that are young enough are dismantled and collected by installation company Feenstra to be used elsewhere in rental housing. The company Re-use collects the still usable toilet bowls, taps, sinks and locks for reuse. We have also equipped four homes with circular wooden window frames. We are going to monitor how that will develop in the coming years so that we can apply it in other projects. These window frames are fitted with circular glass through GSF Glasgroep. This glass is produced from old double-glazing."

Very special for a social housing project, residents will have the opportunity to rent solar panels on the buildings' roofs. Rinaldi: "The old roof was too weak to support a load of solar panels, so the housing association invested in a new steel structure on the roof. Residents can choose to rent the solar panels to generate their own power." 

No completion points

Finally, the facades will be cleaned, cracks in the masonry repaired and new balcony railings and new roofing will be installed. "When we are finished, the houses will be able to last for years again. The first delivery is now behind us and there were zero completion points. We are proud of that. The residents are also very happy with the final result."

All homes are expected to be completed by March 2023. Rinaldi: "We work with a lean schedule and keep a lot in our own hands by using our subsidiaries and chain partners that we know well and have worked with for years. We want to avoid project delays due to, for example, material shortages. By managing the lean planning well and being in close contact with our chain partners, we can make adjustments at an early stage in case of possible problems. The cooperation with Stadgenoot is also pleasant. We really are a construction team. Shoulder to shoulder and go!"